The Morgue at Midnight
by MintExpresso
Summary: Booth visits the lab in the middle of the night... but he's not alone! Oneshot.


**Title**: The Morgue at Midnight  
**Rating**: T, for some language.  
**Summary**: Booth arrives at the Jeffersonian late one night to drop something off... but he's not alone!  
**Notes**: Finally, something that's a little longer! As much as I love the Booth and Brennan pairing, for the moment, I love their banter and arguments even more. This is just a hopefully-humorous one-shot (though I suppose I could tack more on if I ever get around to writing anything that's NOT a one-shot). I hope you enjoy it! But even more, I hope you leave your comments, criticism, suggestions, questions, flames, or whatever feedback you feel like leaving me.

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He was called in on investigation in the middle of the night. A body had been found, scarcely more than a skeleton, with bits of rotting flesh and hair plastered to it. He was surprised it hadn't fallen apart into the stream where it had been found.

Some kids had discovered it, a nervous-looking group of teenage boys, ignoring curfew, who were promptly questioned and then escorted home.

He arrived at the scene a little after ten. By the time the interviews were concluded, and the evidence nearly done being gathered, it was past midnight.

"Booth, you'll be handling this case. Our morgue isn't open this late, so I'd like you to take this body over to the Jeffersonian tonight to prevent further decomposition. Some kind of staff should be available to assist you. Get the anthropologist and her team on it first thing tomorrow," Cullen instructed. "We'll finish up here."

Booth groaned inwardly, but nodded. Bringing a decomposing body over to an empty morgue in the middle of the night was not high on his list of priorities. At least he usually got to bother Bones when he dropped in with a corpse and a case. Ah well, bright and early tomorrow he'd break the news that she was being whisked off to the aid of the Bureau.

His black SUV pulled in to the Jeffersonian parking lot around one. He removed the remains and evidence from his trunk, which still faintly smelled putridly sweet from the last cadaver he had delivered to the Jeffersonian. The current corpse was in a body bag, supported by a flat board with wheels and a handle, like a macabre Red Flyer. A bored-looking receptionist with hair bleached to straw and a fake tan waved him in without looking up from her tabloid magazine. He wondered if this was the staff that he was supposed to ask for assistance.

The lab was dimly lit, and Booth couldn't see more than three feet away from him. He was fumbling around to find the key to the morgue, which Cullen had nearly forgotten to give him, when all of a sudden a cold voice rang out from the darkest corner of the lab.

"Step away from the door or I'll shoot."

Booth turned to see a vague shadowy silhouette aiming something directly at his head. He grinned.

"Bones, didn't we talk about you and firearms not being allowed to mix?"

He heard a sigh of relief (and no small amount of exasperation, he thought proudly), and the lights flicked on to reveal Dr. Temperance Brennan.

"You scared the hell out of me, Booth."

"Yeah, well, suddenly having a voice proclaim its intent to blow my brains out in a supposedly empty lab isn't the most peaceful thing ever-," he didn't pause, but his tone took on that serious and condescending tone, "-and speaking of blowing my brains out, Bones-"

Brennan gave him one of her rare grins as she interrupted him. "It's a banana, Booth. I figured, correctly, that it would be too dark to tell." She picked up the mostly blackened fruit from the lab table and held it out, wiggling it teasingly. "I suppose I'm still allowed these?"

Booth just snorted, too tired to come up with a proper comeback. "What are you doing here, anyways?" he asked as he set the remains down on the floor and crossed the room to her.

The corner of her lips twitched in sheepish annoyance. "I fell asleep while finishing some paperwork. But I assume you didn't come here just to harass me out of my sleep?" she asked, eyeing the body bag.

"Some kids found it in the river, stuck to a log," he told her, and then answered the question he could already see forming on her lips. "I was all for hauling you out of bed, but we had to get the guy out of the river before he washed away."

"Nice to know you were thinking of me," she retorted sarcastically.

"Anytime, Bones, anytime," Booth said with a self-satisfied smirk on his face, but Brennan was already preparing the body to be stored overnight. Five minutes later, she re-appeared from the morgue.

"I'll be back tomorrow morning, to officially haul your ass into this case," he told her.

"And I'll be back tomorrow morning in the vain hope of getting my own work done."

The lights went out with a soft click as the two made their way out to the parking lot.

"See you then, Bones," Booth grinned cheekily. "Maybe you should bring that banana with tomorrow, just in case?"

"Shut up, Booth." She rolled her eyes, but couldn't help smiling as she started her car.

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